Strategy·May 8, 2026·1 min read
From AI experiments to reliable, shipped products
Most AI pilots never reach production. The gap is rarely the model — it's everything around it.
Teams everywhere have impressive AI demos. Far fewer have AI in production. The difference is rarely the model — it's evaluation, guardrails, integration and ownership.
What 'production-ready' actually means
- Measurable success criteria agreed up front
- Automated evaluation so quality is provable
- Guardrails for safety, privacy and cost
- Real integration into the tools people already use
- Monitoring and a plan for when things drift
Start from the outcome, not the demo, and AI stops being a science project and starts moving the business.